Harlequin
by Chibi-Chichan
Summary: He had no name. No family. No friends. All he knew was that he had awoken in a silent room, holding the hand of a slumbering girl who's name was his only link to the past: Naminé.
1. Dreaming Aloud

**Harlequin**

He had no name. No family. No friends. All he knew was that he had awoken in a silent room, holding the hand of a slumbering girl who's name was his only link to the past: Naminѐ.

A/N: I don't know, I just felt like writing something for the two. So yay for randomness! XD And LOL, enjoy this third person perspective where the main character lives with only pronouns to refer to him. XDD Kind of AU too.

...

A leering face loomed above which was followed by him stumbling. There was a sickening sensation of falling and then miraculously, there was light.

The sunlight that had streamed in through the slits for windows had disturbed his sleep. Despite this, he attempted to ignore the light that conveniently fell upon his face, too exhausted to do anything besides continue resting. His efforts proved useless as the streams of sunlight were then accompanied by the unwelcome chirping of birds, their sounds entering the room through the windows and reverberating within the room. He gritted his teeth in annoyance, the sound acting like a bothersome alarm, slowly waking him up completely. As this happened, he gradually became aware of the dull ache across his entire body and mumbling in discontent, he decided that it was futile to seek any further chances of rest.

Slowly opening his eyes, he was greeted with the surprising sight of a slumbering blonde-haired girl lying across from him, sharing the double-poster bed. His hand lay intertwined with hers, with her expression serene as he observed her in her sleep. What was she doing there? And more importantly, he thought tiredly to himself, what were they doing together in this small room?

Forcing himself up a little off the bed with his free hand, he felt a wave of nausea pass over him, nearly causing him to slump back onto the bed. Shaking his head and gathering himself again, he surveyed the area around them, discovering that the double-poster bed they shared nearly occupied the entire room, leaving only enough room for the door to be fully opened.

Glancing back at the sleeping girl, he wondered whether or not it would be fine to leave her alone as he checked outside the door for any clues as to where they were. The more he thought about it, the more he realised that he wasn't even sure of who they were.

Ignoring his aching body, he stood and leapt off of the bed, landing before the only door leading out, opening it to find that it led directly into darkness. He paused, hesitating as he peered out into the dark abyss, seeing no end in sight. "Hello?" he called into the dark tentatively.

A sudden gush of wind rushed past him, throwing him back onto the bed and slamming the door shut. Pushing himself back up into a sitting position, he watched as the small amount of light that streamed in from the window began to flicker before vanishing entirely. Horrified, he leapt to his feet, standing on top of the mattress to see that it had abruptly turned to night outside, the moon and the stars being the only thing he could see through the slit.

Puzzled and wary, he leapt off the bed once more, heading cautiously towards the door. He touched the doorknob tentatively before slowly pulling open the door only to be greeted by blinding white light. He covered his face, the light shining harshly upon him before he stumbled backward, the door automatically slamming shut as he fell back upon the bed.

What was going on?

He sat up on the mattress again, contemplating what to do; unsure of whether or not to try to door again or to simple give up. Sighing in aggravation, he ran his hands through his hair before deciding to slump back onto the pillow on his side of the bed.

It was becoming unusually cold the longer he lay there but he attempted to ignore the falling temperature, allowing his mind to stray. Why was he here? Why could he not recall anything that had happened before the moment he woke up? Scratching his head as he thought, he turned on his side to face the sleeping blonde beside him and noticed goosebumps lining her bare arms.

Without a second thought, he sat up and stripped off his jacket, covering her with it before realising how cold it was without it as the cold night air embraced him. Noting that there weren't any bedsheets to cover themselves with, he lay back down, teeth chattering uncontrollably as he watched the girl continue to sleep peacefully across from him.

Shivering as the temperature continued to drop causing his breath come out in white wisps before his face, he edged closer to her. With trembling fingers and figuring that it wouldn't hurt considering that she was asleep, he slipped underneath the jacket as well. He huddled closer to the girl, the jacket too small for the both of them and leaving his back uncovered, sending shivers up and down his spine. He huddled even closer to her before eventually surrendering and slipping his arms around her, pulling her into his embrace and sighing at the warmth of contact. The jacket finally covering both of them, he sheltered his face from the cold by burying it in her shoulder. The girl shivered involuntarily and he mumbled an apology into her skin before drawing her closer, their bodies pressing against each other for warmth.

Sighing contently, he closed his eyes, contemplating sleep once more, knowing it was too cold to even bother leaving the girl now. It was then that he realised that the girl was still shivering in his embrace and he looked down to find that her legs were bare because of the short pale dress she wore.

Pulling away, he felt the cold night air embrace him once more, trembling uncontrollably as he tore off the cover of his pillow, thanking whoever put them in there for giving the pillows covers. He grabbed her ankles and turned his face away, blushing when he glimpsed underneath her dress. Blindly, he slid the pillow cover over her legs, the cover reaching up to her knees before he quickly slipped back under the jacket, embracing her once again.

Her trembling slowly ceasing, he smiled to himself, burying his face once more in her shoulder, beckoning for sleep to finally take him.

_Naminé_.

His eyes flew open at that thought and ignoring the cold, he pulled back a little to gaze into the face of the girl who's name he finally recalled. "Naminé," he breathed, causing the hair framing her face to move gently.

Her eyes still closed, he studied her face as her blonde lashes fluttered with each breath she inhaled and exhaled. He sighed as she continued to remain unconscious.

Shuffling back into position and burying his face in her shoulder once more, he wondered how he could recall her name and yet not his own.

With his face pressed into her skin, the distinct scent of milk and strawberries registered in his mind.

Attempting to ignore the heat in his cheeks, he prepared himself once more for sleep.

...

It was supposedly morning when he awoke once more to the sound of birds chirping. Supposedly because he was unsure of whether or not it would remain morning time or change abruptly like it had yesterday.

Pulling shyly away from Naminé, he found her still asleep and scratched his head in confusion. Hadn't she gotten enough sleep yet?

Shaking his head, he noticed that the window had grown more depth, revealing a little more of the azure sky outside. Intending to end the confusion, he shuffled off of the end of the bed and stood, preparing to face the door once more and not knowing what to expect this time. He headed confidently to it, hand gripping the doorknob before yanking it open.

Darkness greeted him like yesterday, however, this time, at the end of it was a distant white room where, with squinting, he could see a white table and two chairs on either side in it. Encouraged, he began to rush forward before a violent gust of wind obstracted his path and blew him back onto the bed as the door slammed.

Disgruntled, he pushed himself off of the bed, prepared to launch himself at the door once more.

"Wait..." rasped a weak voice from behind him.

Surprised, he turned to see Naminé watching him from where she lay, eyes flinching as she struggled to keep them open. "Naminé!" he gasped, crawling back towards her.

She looked up at him, not moving any other part of her body. "I'm too weak... please... don't..." she struggled to continue, her eyes slowly fluttering closed, "... go out... yet... Roxas..." Once more, she was silent, her chest rising and falling evenly in sleep.

"Naminé!" Roxas called, grasping her hand as he searched her face. Realising she was asleep again, Roxas sighed, sitting back, his hand still holding hers.

What was he going to do? She had asked him not to leave the room and it seemed that the reason she was sleeping so much was because she was recovering. But from what?

It only occurred to him then that he now knew his name. Roxas. How could someone forget their own name and yet remember another person's? Roxas cringed as his head began to suddenly ache. He nursed his head as he lay back down across from Naminé, willing the pain to go away as he tried to wait for Naminé to gain consciousness once more.

He hadn't realised he had fallen asleep until he awoke once more to a sunlit room. He also realised a split second later that he had unconsciously drawn Naminé to his side with his left arm, her hair tickling his cheek where he had laid his face while he slept. Rouge covered his cheeks as he pulled away from her, mentally slapping himself.

The amount of light streaming into the room caught his eye and he glanced up to see that the window had gained more depth to it, allowing Roxas to view the landscape outside as well. A brick fence and gate were situated outside of the house, the sun resting above it in the clear sky. Had another day passed without him knowing?

"Roxas?" came Naminé's small voice before him, breaking through his train of thoughts.

Glancing back down, Roxas found Naminé's sleepy azure eyes gazing at him. "Naminé," he breathed, studying her carefully, "are you okay now?"

She bit her lip, shifting her gaze away. "A little... I'm still not fully recovered," she admitted with a sigh as she closed her eyes.

Silence filled the room as Roxas watched Namine breathe quietly, unsure of whether or not she had fallen asleep again. "Naminé?" he called hesitatingly.

"Mmm...?"

He sighed, relieved that he wouldn't have to endure some more loneliness. "Where are we?"

There was a brief pause before Naminé managed a slurred reply, obviously still sleepy, "Within my spell..."

Oddly enough, despite his lack of memories, Roxas was not entirely surprised by this piece of information. "Why?" he asked, his memories still clouded. Receiving no reply, he reached forward and took Naminé's hand. "Why are we here, Naminé?" he asked once more, praying that she would reply.

Naminé squeezed his hand gently in return before breathing out drowsily, "I'm protecting... you..."

It was all Roxas could find out before Naminé fell back asleep.

...

Roxas had grown used to losing consciousness without him even realising. However, he certainly was not used to being awoken by Naminé herself. He sat up abruptly, hurriedly rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he turned to the panic-stricken Naminé. "What happened? What's wrong?" he asked quickly, noting the amount of dark circles that lined her eyes.

Coughing suddenly, Naminé gasped for air before quickly replying, "We have to leave! My spell won't keep us safe much longer! They've discovered our location! We have to get out of here!" she cried tugging weakly at Roxas' sleeve.

Seizing his jacket and throwing it on, Roxas grabbed Naminé's hand and leapt off of the bed, trusting her word despite the lack of information. Who was after them? Where were they headed now?

Shaking off his questions for the moment, Roxas quickly threw open the door to find that they were in the room that he had glimpsed the other day before Naminé's spell had forced him back. Somehow, he understood that as he hurried across the room towards the door.

Naminé weakly pulled against him. "Not the door. They're coming from there," she spoke quickly, coughing some more as she stumbled backwards. "To the window," she directed, her knees giving in beneath her as her body shook uncontrollably as she coughed up blood.

"Naminé!" Roxas cried, falling to his knees beside her.

"Hurry!" she rasped, continuing to cough. "The window!"

Without hesitation, Roxas scooped Naminé up into his arms before charging headlong for the window, bracing himself before leaping through it, the sound of smashing glass reverberating in his ears as they fell forward through the air.

Hurriedly scrawling something across Roxas' chest, Naminé chanted quickly before slapping her hand against his chest, causing feathery white wings to spring out of Roxas' chest, allowing them to soar above the earth, passed the surprised black hooded figure at the gate.

"Up!" cried Naminé, holding tightly to Roxas as he obeyed and automatically steered them upwards into the sky and high above the forest that they passed over.

They soared over a town that Roxas could not remember eventually reaching the coast where Roxas' wings abruptly gave way. Both Roxas and Naminé yelled as they plummetted towards the ocean water below them knowing that at the height they were at, they would perish. Before they hit the surface, Roxas listened as Naminé hurriedly chanted under her breath, slowing them down right before the water rushed up above their heads.

Holding Naminé close with one arm, Roxas flailed in the water with his other whilst kicking madly in an attempt to resurface. Slowly and painfully, he finally brought them both up to the surface where a wave crashed over them, sending them tumbling forward, Roxas losing his hold on Naminé in the process. Disoriented, he peered around himself in the water, the salt stinging his eyes before he squeezed them shut and resurfaced, desperate for air.

"Naminé!" he shouted, glancing about himself. "Naminé!"

Fear gripped his heart when he could see no sign of her, so he dove into the water, swimming about as he forced his sore eyes to peer around himself in the water, hoping to catch a glimpse of her.

He spotted her lifeless body slowly floating up to the surface of the water.

Swimming rapidly towards her, he held her in one arm before proceeding to use the other to push them up towards the surface of the water, his leg kicking numbly below him. Breaking the surface, he quickly paddled towards the shore, struggling painfully to get to it. Another wave rose above them and this time, more prepared, Roxas hugged Naminé to his chest, ducking his head as he allowed the wave to push them closer towards the shore. A successive wave crashed over them, forcing them into the shallow water where Roxas stumbled to his feet, struggling against the pull of the water as he ran for the shore.

Reaching it, he placed Naminé carefully on the floor before resting his head against her chest, praying for a heartbeat. He could only hear the roar of the ocean behind him and the crash of the waves, the tide rushing in over his shoes.

Automatically his lips found hers as he breathed air into her mouth. He did this twice more before his hands flew to her chest, pressing down upon it. He counted each compression, sea water droplets dripping off of his chin as his hands continued to press down on her chest rhythmically. He had reached fifteen compressions when a pair of hands seized his arms and wrestled him away from her.

He had been so consumed with CPR that he hadn't realised the arrival of another person on the beach. Even so, as he looked down upon Naminé's still figure, he struggled violently against the person restraining him, realising he didn't care who had come to separate them, as long as she was still breathing. As long as she looked at him again, her eyes filled with life once more.

Roxas tore his arms away from the person behind him and fell at Naminé's side once more, hands continuing the compressions. "Go away!" he bellowed madly at the person behind him, anger emanating from him as he felt hands seize his arms once again. "GO AWAY!" he yelled, darkness beginning to shroud the area around him.

The hands were removed and he continued to focus on the compressions, sweat dewing his forehead. "Don't die. Don't die on me. NAMINÉ!" he cried as suddenly a mix of blood and water spewed out from the pale blonde's mouth as she coughed uncontrollably.

The darkness faded away without Roxas' notice as he exhaled in relief. She was alive.

"R-Roxas?" she choked as he was suddenly pulled away from her side, two pairs of arms flinging him onto his back on the sand.

Stunned and disoriented, he attempted to push himself back up only to be kicked back to the ground in the stomach. Winded, he struggled for breath, his head feeling like it was rolling in its place.

"Roxas!" he heard Naminé cry as she crawled across the sand towards him, one of the hooded figures kicking her violently in the ribcage. She shrieked as she fell onto her side, clutching her ribs as the water swept around her body. She gurgled up blood, muttering a curse directed at the hooded figure that had attacked her before the hand holding her side was trampled on, evoking a scream from her.

"Don't touch her!" Roxas yelled threateningly, blood boiling as he sat up abruptly, the darkness beginning to seep out of him once more.

He launched himself suddenly with an unsuppressed growl of rage at the hooded figure that loomed over Naminé, sending them both crashing into the sand. He pulled himself back up as he straddled the figure, hitting him across what he assumed was his face with his fist. The figure reached up to push him off, but Roxas seized his wrist, the darkness seeping out from his fingers closed around it, the pressure snapping the figure's wrist bones out of place.

Punching the figure roughly in the gut, Roxas instinctively rolled off of him as the other hooded companion attempted to hit him from behind. Leaping back onto his feet, he rushed at the hooded companion, pivoting to the left to narrowly avoid a punch directed at his face before slamming his fist into the stomach of the man. Not giving the figure time to recover, he held his hands together above his head and slammed them into the top of the man's head, sending him straight into the sand at his feet.

Spinning around, Roxas caught the hand of the other hooded figure who had attempted a sneak attack on him. He was breathing harshly due to his broken wrist, the effected arm hanging uselessly by his side.

Swiftly pulling his arm back, Roxas punched the figure in the face, sending him sprawling backwards. He turned around and kicked the other figure into the ground once more before finally turning back to Naminé who lay gasping on the shore as she clutched her side.

Heading over to her, he carefully scooped her up into his arms, murmuring quietly in her ear as she winced at the sudden movement before turning and walking away from the shoreline. He had reached the roadside next to the beach when he heard a hooded figure yell from the shore.

"Roxas! Come back to us!"

Glaring over his shoulder as darkness began to bubble along the frame of his body, Roxas growled menacingly, "Come and get me then."

Without bothering to check if they would follow or not, Roxas continued along his way, carefully walking so as not to hurt Naminé any further.

...

A/N: Woo, that's chapter one for you folks. 8'D Just to let you know, I only have a vague idea of where I'm going. Hmm... that sounds promising. XD Please kindly leave a review! :D


	2. Intended to be Familiar

**Harlequin**

He had no name. No family. No friends. All he knew was that he had awoken in a silent room, holding the hand of a slumbering girl who's name was his only link to the past: Naminé.

A/N: Wow, such an early update! Anyway, it gets so hot when I'm using my laptop in the summer. I'm sweating buckets. I wish I had something better to say... XD Thank you to the reviewers! Onto chapter two!

...

He couldn't help but notice the bags underneath her eyes as she sat huddled in the dusty corner, her hand pressed against her wound as she healed it. He also couldn't help but notice the trail of goosebumps that led up her legs or her feet that were conveniently propped up where her dress didn't cover.

She had told him it was the 21st of December—which explained why it was so cold—and that they were both seventeen. Any other details she hadn't bothered filling in for him and Roxas hesitated to push for any answers, unsure of whether she really wanted the questions burning in his mind answered.

Instead, he shrugged off his jacket, ignoring the hairs that stood up on his arm as he draped it over Naminé's shoulders, causing her to look up at him in querie. "It's cold," he responded with a shrug of a shoulder before turning away, pacing to the other side of the small tin shed.

Ever since the last incident with the hooded figures, they had had no other choice but to go into hiding again, Naminé only using her magic when she deemed it safe, but not for an extensive period of time for fear of the hooded figures finding them once again.

Right now, she had once again deemed it safe to use her magic without attracting attention and though Roxas was glad that she could continue healing the wound that had been causing her trouble the past couple of days, he was also concerned that it may drain her completely and she would have to rest again. And judging from the bags beneath her eyes, Roxas knew that she was most likely too exhausted to be using her powers, especially after having recently been attempting to recuperate from her exhaustion.

Naminé yawned tiredly, shaking her head of the sleep before focusing her attention once more on the healing of her ribcage before breaking the silence. "We have to move from here soon. In a day's time, I'm sure they won't be too far from our location. We've given them enough time to track us down when really we should be moving locations often," she explained logically, her eyes never leaving her healing wound.

Roxas remained silent as he leaned against the rusty wall of the shed, knowing that they had only remained in the same location because he had forced Naminé to, aware of the amount of pain she would have to endure by moving with her unhealed ribs. Of course, she had objected to this treatment, explaining as she had just then that it would be the only way for them to remain safe from the people chasing them—who these people were and their motives she hadn't explained properly. Roxas had flat out refused to move anywhere unless she was fully healed prompting Naminé to use as many safe opportunities as she was allowed to heal herself.

Heat rose in Naminé's as the unmistakable sound of a stomach growling filled the small shed.

Coughing politely into his hand, Roxas suppressed his urge to laugh and pushed himself off of the wall of the shed, grinning at Naminé who averted her eyes. "Do you want me to go get you some food then?" he asked, heading towards the door of the shed.

Clutching her tender wound, Naminé pushed herself up gingerly to her feet, wincing at the effort. "I'm sorry..." she murmured, cheeks still flushed pink. "We should stick together though..." she trailed off, gazing hesitantly at the floor.

Hand out-stretched, Roxas smiled softly at her. "It's okay. Let's go together then."

Face lighting up at the gesture, Naminé slipped her hand into Roxas' and allowed him to lead her towards the door of the shed, smiling contently at his back as he pushed open the rusting door.

It was dark outside when Roxas and Naminé stepped out of the shed, into an untended grassy field, the grass reaching up to their waists. It had been hazardous approaching the area because of the fact that it would leave a trail and Naminé resolved this issue by casting magic that allowed them to fly over the top of the grass, allowing them to easily reach the shed. The move had concerned Roxas as he understood the toll it would take on Naminé's health, but even at that moment he understood that it was the only thing that would ensure their safety for the time being.

This time however, Roxas glanced over at Naminé, knowing that she had probably already exhausted a lot of her magic by attempting to heal herself, not to mention had nothing fuelling her. The issue was, did she have enough magic for a sustained flight over the field of grass?

His thoughts were disrupted by the surprising sound of his stomach growling and Naminé whipped her head in his direction, eyes wide before she burst out into giggles which she attempted in vain to stifle.

Heat rose into Roxas' face and he rubbed the back of his head, chuckling. "I guess we're in the same boat then," he said with a grin, patting his rumbling stomach.

A ball of fire shot past their heads, crashing into the shed behind them and scarring the old and rusted metal.

Both Roxas and Naminé's attention were suddenly drawn to the hooded figure standing across from them on the other side of the field, a path of fire leading directly from the figure to the pair. The figure spun a burning chakram in each hand, poised to fling another fireball in their direction.

"Roxas!" bellowed the figure, pulling back his arm to launch the rotating chakram in his right hand.

"Come on!" cried Roxas, dragging Naminé forward and leading them in the opposite direction to the figure.

He clasped her hand tightly in his as they pushed through the long grass, running as quickly as the vegetation allowed them to. As they ran, he could barely hear the sharp intakes of Naminé's breaths over the pounding of blood in his ears. He felt the resistance against his pull gradually grow stronger and realised that Naminé was struggling to keep up, her breathing becoming more and more harsh, likely due to her freshly healed wound.

Stopping suddenly, he whirled around to scoop Naminé up into his arms, glimpsing their pursuer a few feet behind them before spinning back around and continuing to force his way across the field, struggling deperately against the resistant grass.

In the distance, he could see another dark cloaked figure approaching the field, busily shuffling cards and preparing to hinder them. He glanced to his right, spotting another hooded person, summoning a sitar into their hands as they pushed through the grass towards them.

They needed a way to escape. And Roxas could see none. Despite this, he continued to run, pulling Naminé closer into his chest as she began to cough harshly.

His eyes shifted to the left as another figure calmly approached them from afar, drawing forth a bat winged blade.

It was purely instinct and Roxas could not comprehend the decision himself but he soon found himself turning in the direction of that figure, rushing towards him and gritting his teeth as he braced himself. "Naminé!" he cried, hoping she was still observing what was around them and praying that she still had enough strength left.

A violent fit of coughs was followed by Naminé tiredly raising her left hand, pointing towards the figure they were quickly approaching, eyes blurred and blood staining her lips as she croaked, "I've got it."

Drawing a hurried glowing cross in the air, Naminé thrust her palm through the symbol. A bright light suddenly enveloped them both, causing the other three pursuers to cover their eyes reflexively. However, the pursuer before them leapt forward, the light ineffective against them, hands seizing both Roxas and Naminé and sending them all crashing into a heap upon the grass. The grass gave way beneath them and Roxas felt that familiar sickening falling sensation as darkness swallowed them completely. Squeezing his eyes shut and pulling Naminé even closer to himself, he felt the hands of the hooded figure push him roughly down further before they were drawn away and the hard floor below met painfully with Roxas' head and the rest of his body.

Stunned and completely numb, Roxas lay on the cold hard floor, winded and struggling to catch his breath back. His grip loosened on Naminé, allowing her to roll off of him onto the floor beside him where she scrambled up onto her hands and knees.

Ignoring her reopened wound, Naminé bowed over Roxas, hands flying to his head where blood seeped precariously from, instantly murmuring a chant as she began to seal the wound. "Roxas," she rasped, throat raw from her previous coughing bouts, "talk to me please."

Dazedly, Roxas stared at the ceiling of the room they had fallen into, too numb to string together a proper sentence. "Talk?" he mumbled, his vision alternating between focused and unfocused.

"Yes... please..."

The hint of desperation in her voice prompted Roxas to obey, his eyes briefly meeting her concerned-filled ones before losing focus once more. "I'm tired," he murmured, eyes slowly drifting closed.

"Yes, I know you are," she whispered and he could feel her warm breath fan his face, knowing she had lowered her head closer down towards his, "but you've got to keep talking to me... please, Roxas..." she continued to whisper, her voice wavering at the end of her sentence.

Head too sore to nod, Roxas slowly forced his eyes to open, feeling as though his body and head were disconnected from one another; unable to move either of them because of the overwhelming numbing sensation that coursed through his body. His weary eyes locked once more with Naminé's and his disjointed mind vaguely registered the appearance of tears welling in her eyes as she gazed down at him. "Hey... I'm still talking... aren't I?" he murmured as he studied her face exhaustedly.

Biting her lip, Naminé nodded her head silently, the tears still glistening in her eyes.

"Then don't... look at me like that..." he spoke softly, eyes threatening to drift closed once more, yet this time he fought against it. "Besides... we're going to go get something to eat after this... right?" he asked tiredly with half-lidded eyes.

The question made Naminé laugh as the amount of blood seeping from Roxas' wound lessened, the level of power she was putting into it speeding up the healing process. "Sure, if that's what you want," she giggled, her tears escaping from her eyes. She attempted to hurriedly brush them away against her arm when Roxas' hand rose and cupped her cheek, allowing him to gently brush the tears away with his thumb.

"Please don't cry," he murmured gently, eyes filled with concern.

Naminé strained a smile in return and refocused on the task at hand, forcefully drawing out more power to heal him. The wound in her side throbbed painfully and she felt unsconsciousness threaten to seize hold of her from the amount of magic she was forcing herself to use, yet she ignored it all, determined to see Roxas healed.

...

Roxas pulled himself up onto his feet, flexing his arms in an attempt to become accustomed to moving his body once more, the pain having left his head entirely due to Naminé completely healing his wound. Turning to thank Naminé, he watched as she swayed dangerously, swiftly bending to catch her before she collasped, concern written on his face as he propped her up against the wall for support.

Sweat dewed her forehead as she breathed harshly, her eyes closed and her skin paler than usual. Opening her eyes tiredly to catch Roxas', she smiled weakly, reaching out a hand towards him. "Let's go..." she mumbled, "I think the hunger is really getting to me."

Returning her weak smile, Roxas mumbled an agreement, knowing that she was actually weakened from having to heal him yet understanding that she did not wish to burden him with that fact. Turning around, he beckoned for her to clamber onto his back as it would be more convenient for them to travel where his arms were free. "So I can protect you while you rest," he explained with an optimistic grin.

Obediently, Naminé pulled herself up onto Roxas' back, wrapping her arms around his neck and nestling her face into the back of his shoulder, her eyes fluttering closed as she welcomed sleep.

Roxas rose to his feet, striding over to the door and opening it, relishing the thought of finally having something to fill his stomach for the night. It was when Roxas had finally stepped outside that he had to stop and reconsider the idea of them looking for food. They were stranded in a place that Roxas didn't know of—or could not remember—and it Roxas thought about it logically, he wasn't exactly sure where to attempt a start to find food.

At that moment, a innocent rabbit strayed across the pathway ahead of Roxas, pausing on the dirt road to turn its round eyes to the undeniably hungry man.

"Hello dinner," he greeted it, causing the rabbit to dive headlong into the bushes beside the dirt road. Briskly walking along to the bushes on the other side, Roxas took mental note of where the rabbit had gone before gingerly laying Naminé on the grass, causing her to stir in her sleep. "Naminé, stay here for just one second and I'll get us some food, okay?" he whispered, crouched over her for approval.

Watching Naminé nod her head sleepily, Roxas stood and ran in the direction of the rabbit, picking up a random branch off the floor as he went. What he planned to do with it wasn't exactly clear to him but his instinct had led him to pick it up, as if he felt more secure fighting with some sort of weapon in his hands. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind however when he caught sight of the rabbit once more, nibbling on some nearby vegetation.

Allowing his instincts to take over, it wasn't long until Roxas was heading back to where he had left Naminé resting with his prize in hand. He couldn't help but feel surprised that he was more skilled in fighting than he had originally thought, as if he had been battling for quite a while now without him even beeing able to recall whether this was true or not. With a grin, he pulled back the green foliage to find nothing laying before his eyes.

The dead rabbit fell from Roxas' hand.

Naminé was gone.

Before fear and horror could completely render his thoughts to be irrational, he noted the trail of blood that Naminé had left behind from her reopened wound. Allowing his eyes to follow the glistening tracks of the red fluid, he found that it led back to the house he had just exited with Naminé from. Curious and wary, he headed back towards the building, branch still clenched in his fist as he silently approached the door and opened it.

A blade was brandished in his face and Roxas pulled back swiftly, narrowly avoiding it, recognising the weapon.

The hooded figure that had pushed them into the house stood before him, bat winged blade poised to strike again.

"Where's Naminé?" demanded Roxas, eyes fixed on the person as he stepped into the house defiantly, ignoring the blade closing dangerously in on his throat.

"I'm right here, Roxas," Naminé called feebly from her seat on the floor behind the figure.

Relaxing, Roxas peered around the person, confused at the sight of Naminé staring down at a can of tuna in her hand. "Tuna?" he asked, a single brow raising in question.

"It's flavoured," added the man in the cloak, lowering his blade.

Attention shifting back to the man, Roxas became further confused by his actions as he allowed the blade to vanish into darkness. "Flavoured?" Roxas snorted, kicking the door closed behind himself. "Is that supposed to make me trust you?"

The man reached up to the hood of his cloak, pulling it back to reveal his blindfolded face and long spiky silver hair. "Do you not recognise me?" he asked, head tilting slightly.

Roxas' brows furrowed. "Am I supposed to?"

"Roxas..." Naminé's soft voice called tentatively from the floor, causing both men to turn towards her.

"You should eat," insisted the man to Roxas, gesturing towards Naminé who bit her lip guiltily, glancing away from him. "I'll explain everything once you've eaten."

Naminé's head whipped back towards the man, a frown marring her face. "Riku!"

Turning towards her, Riku's brows drew together. "Are you serious, Naminé?"

Lip quivering, Naminé looked away, gripping her heart, uncertainty reflected in her eyes.

Clearly, some information was being withheld from Roxas. But the possibility of him discovering what it was appeared to terrify Naminé and he was hesitant to push for the information. Scratching his head, he walked passed Riku and seated himself on the floor beside Naminé, silence descending upon the room. "Uh..." he began, glancing at the tuna can, "why didn't you start eating?"

Naminé turned her wide blue eyes to Roxas, biting her lip once more. "I was waiting for you... you wanted to eat something together, didn't you?" she asked, lowering her eyes back to the tuna can clutched in her hands.

A warm smile flitted across his face as he watched Naminé figet with the tab attached to the lid of the can. "Yeah."

Still, flavoured tuna was the best Riku could provide them with? Roxas thought, sweatdropping as Naminé removed the lid to reveal the tomato and onion flavoured tuna within.

He looked up at Riku in surprise as he too took a seat on the floor before them, reaching into his cloak pocket and pulling out more cans and packets of food, causing both Roxas' and Naminé's eyes to widen. Placing the assortment of packaged foods in a pile in the middle of their circle, Riku grabbed a steamed bun packet, tearing it opened. "I'm hungry too," he commented nonchalantly as the pair stared at him, biting into the white bun. "We can all share that too," he said pointedly, nodding at the pile of packages and cans.

"Thanks, Riku," Naminé said, smiling gratefully as she reached forward, grabbing another steamed bun. She turned and looked at Roxas in surprise, sweat dropping at the sight of him already tearing into two packages of steamed buns and wolfing them down, following that with a mouthful of the flavoured tuna.

"Yarh, schfanks Weeku," Roxas managed to say, struggling to swallow.

Riku stifled a laugh, murmuring into his food, "Even like this, you haven't changed."

"What was that?" Roxas asked, coughing as he beat his chest to force down the food, eyes turning curiously to Riku.

"It's nothing," Riku murmured, continuing to silently eat his bun.

Lowering her gaze, Naminé bit silently into her own steamed bun, uncertainty consuming her.

…

A/N: Hahah, I just read over this and edited the grammatical/expression issues I noticed in this. XD So if there are any more, I apologise sincerely. Please leave a review!


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